


Granite Butterflies

by DiVira



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek Hale & Isaac Lahey Friendship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Alpha Derek Hale, Hurt/Comfort, Isaac Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 18:17:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14407773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiVira/pseuds/DiVira
Summary: He couldn't remember his parents being overly affectionate, even before his mom died. But he remembered his mom's collection, and peering up under her arm as she pinned back delicate wisps of color.





	Granite Butterflies

 

 

He couldn't remember his parents being overly affectionate, even before his mom died. But he remembered his mom's collection, and peering up under her arm as she pinned back delicate wisps of color. She would smile down at him, always patient with his questions, and tell him the names of each, and where they were from, and what flowers they were attracted to, and that felt like what he imagined a hug from her would be; it was warm and comforting, and in those moments he knew she loved him.

 

So he was never bothered by the lack of physical affection, it wasn't needed. But after his mom died, and then Camden, he lacked those moments, and instead his dad finally started physically expressing his own dark emotions. It was then that he wondered what it would feel like to be wrapped around and shielded by someone else, a hand at his back that was gentle and soothing. He wondered how it would feel to be able to hide within someone's space, away from his dad's brutality.

 

He wasn't sure why he brought them with him. The wooden box with the glass top and all those wisps of color inside -it was the only part of her collection he'd been able to hide from his dad. But now the second tombstone proved he didn't have to worry about hiding them anymore.

 

The box was heavy in his lap as he sat on the ground in front of the stone slab. He was glad there was only his dad's name and dates; he didn't think he could stand to see something trite and untrue like _Beloved Father_  on the dark stone. He could hear someone step through the rustle of grass.

 

"Isaac." It's Derek.

 

He didn't say anything for a moment, just looking at all the colors. He didn't know what to say, he didn't know anything anymore, and he wasn't expecting anyone to find him here. 

 

"She collected butterflies," he ends up saying. "My mom," he clarifies. 

 

"I know." 

 

He looks up at that, and sees Derek gazing at the tombstone instead of the butterflies perched perfectly under the glass cover like he was expecting. 

 

"I saw her sometimes in the preserve when I was a kid," Derek explains, still looking at Isaac's father's name. "Once, she caught one and showed me how she pinned them." He finally looks down at the box in Isaac's hand before saying, "She had a box with her."

 

"Oh," he breathes. There's nothing else to say then. Because Derek must understand, must have seen the love she held through her collection, through her colors, and the love he's never gotten since, as much as he tries to cling onto the memory. 

 

He lets out a shaky breath to notice that his hands are unsteady and trembling around the tight clench he has around the wooden edges. His eyes are clenched shut and opens his them, unseeing through the watery image of stone and the colors in front of him. He barely registers Derek taking the box from him and setting it down next to his dad. Derek's kneeling beside him when he's pulled into warmth and soft curves and hard edges and breath. He realizes that Derek's hugging him, completely engulfing him, with a hand in the hair at the nape of his neck and an arm all the way around his back and pulling him in. 

 

He can only slump into it, bury his face in Derek's neck to try to hide and cling to his shirt. 

 

They stay like that for a while, Derek never loosening his hold, until, surprisingly, Derek breaks the silence. "She loved you very much. I could tell."

 

He relaxes his grasp on Derek's shirt to snake his arms under Derek's and around his back, hugging Derek in return.  

 

"I know."


End file.
